Just A Dream
by Georgia Shaw
Summary: A short parody of a parody. Reading the original isn't necessary, but as it's good, I'd recommend it.  Dylan has fallen ill, and Alek is charged with taking care of him.  A/U and minor slash.


**A/N: This is probably the quickest fanfic I've ever done (20 minutes, tops!) Yay! It is a fanfic of Jett-Wolfe98 on 's fanfic _I'm Not Okay-I Promise. _Which I'd recommend you, you know, mosey on over and read, pronto. :D Now, back to _The Untold Truth._**

Just A Dream

"Ooooh...ung...arg!...BLARGH!"

Dylan Sharp, airman extraordinaire, had fallen ill with consumption two days prior. Every moment since had been spent complaining about a pain in his chest, coughing incessantly, and, to everybody's horror, frequently coughing up blood. Prince Aleksandar was terribly worried. Dylan was his best friend aboard the Leviathan-in fact, Dylan was Alek's very first friend. He couldn't bear to lose him so quickly. Doctor Barlow, one of the ship's scientists, as well as the ship's only woman on board, had generously assigned Alek to nurse duty so that he could stay with his friend until the inevitable end.

Alek offered a glass of water to Dylan so that he could wash the bile out of his mouth when he finished vomiting. Dylan was pale as a ghost, and as gaunt as a vampire, his elevated body temperature the only indication that he was still among the living, though he looked ready to join the living dead. After rinsing his mouth, Dylan climbed back into his cot—blanket less in order to avoid the night-sweats- and fell promptly into an exhausted slumber.

With nothing left to do, a tired Alek sat down on his chair beside Dylan's cot and soon nodded off as well.

What seemed like mere minutes later, Alek woke to the sound of voices; mutters and shrieks. Incoherent babblings. It was Dylan; his fever had gotten the worst of him yet again. Alek leapt to consciousness and placed a cool, damp rag on Dylan's forehead. It helped for a moment, quieting the boy, but not for long; instead of calming, it jolted him to wakefulness.

Dylan sat up, lucidity absent from his clouded eyes. He grabbed Alek's shirtfront in a fistful. "Alek! There's something I have to tell you…"

"What? What is it, Dylan?" He watched as his friend's mind slowly returned from wherever it went while he dreamed with relief.

"I-I love you, and I am, in actuality, a girl," he sobbed once and lowered his head, seemingly relieved of some great weight.

Alek was more than a little disturbed. The fever must have been more severe than he had originally thought. "No, Dylan. You're a boy. It was just a dream."

"No! I knew you wouldn't believe me! LOOK!" Dylan tore open the front of his nightdress, revealing…absolutely nothing other than an obviously male chest.

"Oh," said Dylan, colouring. "I reckon you're right. Sorry about that. Um… about what I said…you won't speak of it again, will you?"

"No, Dylan, I won't." Alek chuckled slightly. Dylan was awake and speaking. What more could he ask for, under the circumstances?

Ten days later, Dylan passed on.

A small funereal-affair was held by the crewmen in honour of their young comrade, headed by the captain who spoke of Dylan's daring exploits, but there was no mention of his shortcomings. Alek didn't blame the captain for that—he couldn't think of any either.

Doctor Barlow, arm in arm with Volger, leaned over to whisper in Alek's ear: "He really did love you, you know. That much wasn't a hallucination."

**_*_AHAHA (evile laugh) I just love those endings that make you either think: _AWKWARD SILENCE!, or WTF? _**

**I digress. See ya!**

***Edit: I see that some of you did not understand, and I apologize for not having explained sufficiently in the story; Deryn, and the fact that she was female at all, was dreamed up by the incoherent Dylan. So, Dylan is actually a boy in this story, he was just confused because of a dream. I suppose this could be considered an alternate universe fic. And also, it's a one-shot, so the probability that I update is slim. Otherwise, thank you for all of the kind reviews, they made my day/s. :D * **


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